How to Launch a Cat

I took a quick trip to the museum in LA this weekend...
The best thing I saw at the Getty was this book illustration;



painted circa 1500

a quick glimps of my road trip...

Took a long drive down to Escondido to Stone Brewery...


Had lunch with three dear old friends (Eric not pictured)


... dipped my toes in the cool Pacific while still bundled up...

...it's lovely to be in Southern California for Christmas

More decay...

a falling house of brick

I'm currently working in half of a building that is falling down... but today the door into the other half of the building was open.

I tiptoed over exposed electrical pipes and cracked floors...

...and tried breathing very softly seeing the fragility of the structure...

It's amazing this fading beauty didn't fall down long ago, flattened by some small earthquake.

Follow up...

Well "Nerdfighteria" lost...


If you wonder what the hell these guys are talking about I and you're into YouTube a bit, these guys are awesome. John Green is a Young Adult fiction writer (a rather good one at that), and his brother Hank is a writer for Eco-Geek (a web site that promotes ecologically friendly technology)... they started a vlog about two years ago where they cut out all text based communication. Here is the first;


Nerdfighters and Nerdfighteria become clear as the year moves on... the Green brothers appeal is infectious... they've struck a chord with hundreds of people...

I'm totally doing this... (today!)

Help us!
There's possibly a lot of jargon in here you may not understand, if you're interested I can send you to the place to start... in the mean time... Find Those Balloons!

'
info on DARPA here

Dogs love Photo booth!

Grocery lists and paranoia...

I met a lovely woman with bad teeth and I found that as I listened to what she had to say I ran my tongue along the inside of my own teeth. I smile, I respond, we laugh... I go on about my day. I spent a long afternoon cranking out little alterations on polyester costumes and I feel like a real rock star. When all of your notes take about 5 to 10 minutes to finish, a lot of work can be done in an afternoon. Later in the day I was at the drugstore. I couldn't find the soap I came for, or find the correct size battery for my camera... I've never had much of a sweet tooth in the rewards department but I want a treat for all the work I got done. I find that I prefer getting snake oils that make me feel like I'm making my skin better, my hair shinier and my feet softer... so today it's a toothbrush and a facial soap that smells like bergamot. I roll my tongue across the fronts of my teeth, it feels like I've got some plaque that could be conquered... I wonder if there are some better foods I could be eating for my gum health. It's insane. My teeth are the one thing that I really hit the genetic jackpot with, but that's no reason to be lax about it. Not a filling in my head, and yet I always worry that one day all my teeth will fall out rotten to the roots. A flash of the woman's receding gums flashed in my head, but I shook it off... do my teeth hurt? I went to the grocery store... bread, greens, cheese, tomato soup, pomegranate... I think I left the Berkeley Bowl with two bags full of veggies since I've been lax in remembering to go to the farmer's market this month. When I got home I put all my groceries away while smacking my teeth... they just feel filmy, I think it's time to break out the new toothbrush! No wait, we floss first. Every gap, twice... did I miss anything? Perhaps I should hit the teeth with some mouthwash and then floss again... mmm, still feels weird... I brushed and ooh hard. It felt good, I love these Oral-B toothbrushes, perhaps I shouldn't scrimp on dental care with the $1 brushes I've been using. mmm... my mouth does feel funny, perhaps I need a dentist... I used the floride rinse again before walking away. I looked at the fresh food I had just bought but didn't want to eat... my mouth hurts a little I don't want to chew... why does my mouth hurt? I need to call a dentist!

I worried about it for the rest of the day until the morning.

Then reason kicked me in the head "hey dumb ass, your mouth hurts because you just assaulted it with three flossings, a firm 15 minute brushing and a double rinse." Oh yea... maybe that's it.

My 50's era Shop

My latest acquisition this week; a Fosteria Steam Iron! $5.
It's odd how happy I am about finding this old beast and it's kind of funny thinking about how horrified my grandmother would be about me getting all of this "old" equipment on purpose. All I can say is they don't make things the way they used to. You may or may not know that I personally own three sewing machines; two Singers made in 1950 and 1951 (you can look this information up if you have the serial number HERE) and a Kenmore, probably made in the mid-1970's.

This iron needed a little cleaning on the front but it's a gem. You plug it in and it's hot within seconds. If you drop it, it does not shatter into tiny plastic pieces. The steam comes pouring out almost imediatley, and although it lacks a steam on demand button, such a feature isn't really missed when you have an iron that just Works!
The only down side to this old beast; takes a long time to cool down and won't automatically shut off when not in use.
The disposable culture that we've developed is horrid when you look at these old machines built over 60 years ago that work better than any top of the line equivalents made in 2009. This is the reason that we're drowning in landfills and consumerism. I for one would gladly pay extra to get an iron like the one I just bought for $5 if I thought it would last for another 60 years! However that is not where we are right now and I will just have to revel in good fortunes like this finding me at the "junk" store.

Bargian?

I found this in Oakland...

Pinkies in the air please,
this is a fancy town where $50 scarves are in the "Bargain basket".

What ever happened to X?

Sometimes you wonder what ever happened with an old friend of yours... and then Facebook puts it in perfect perspective;

Research and the summer of What the hell?!

I've just got to get this off my chest. This month a certain university to which I am an alumnus put out this publicity poster:

Seriously? Where did they get their research? Possibly from a photo like this:

It's a bit insulting to Real hippies and to anyone who's ever been to a Phish concert, or anyone who has lived in Berkeley or San Francisco (to present day), to Ben and Jerry... For one thing there's no facial stubble, hell there's no body hair! Their nails are spick and span, and their fake fake wigs are rather too well groomed...

Here are Real hippies;
Please note the grime, the nappy crazy hair, the mismatch clothing, the lack of neon colors... and look at that facial hair! Screw razors man... hippies don't shave when 'the man' says they should. Below, look at this woman's unibrow, she doesn't care... that's the freakin' point!
Real hippies; Look at their muddy feet, look at the lack of bras (the one in the publicity shot is so obviously a foam bra I want to puke on it... come on Ohio... Mark Twain always said that you were a good ten years behind the times, so in theory this should all be more current to you.
I hope that the publicity shot was just put together in haste because if the whole show looks like this I'm going to have to go get a new piece of academic paper from Yale or somewhere that I can point to and say "I trained There!"

Emeryville Marina...

You may recall a post from over a year ago about driftwood art near the Emeryville marina. (I was going to post a link but I cannot find the original post... If I find it, I'll update) The artists make this a habit.


This week they've made a beach shelter.

Ah the beautiful rain....

The rain distracts me from my work...

This is a lull... but all day it's been raining so hard that sometimes it's raining sideways...

... ooh tree crash!

So lovely....

New posts on Urban Hierogliph

I've got them scheduled for the next five days... yay.

HERE

Folsom and Embarcadero

Here's the view of the bay bridge from the Embarcadero in San Francisco... I love this bow and arrow sculpture. It's literal and campy and not particularly inspired, very safe civic art, and yet appealing and funny.

Nothing much to say about it. Sometimes I get so worked up (like my recent posts) that I need to take a moment to look around... so here we are. We'll see what I'm ranting about later on, enjoy the post card for now.

Blog Action Day 2009

Cognitive Dissonance; is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously.
The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, or by justifying or rationalizing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Noticing the contradiction would lead to dissonance, which could be experienced as anxiety, guilt, shame, anger, embarrassment, stress, and other negative emotional states. (abbreviated from Wikipedia)

In other words; When you find yourself acting in a way that is discordant with your beliefs, you could experience mental distress... as a coping mechanism the brain is hard wired to rationalize the differences and make you believe that there is no contradiction.

Cognitive Dissonance sez; "It's summer"

It is easier to change your mind than it is to change your actions... I am convinced this is why there is anybody out there trying to discredit the scientists who publish reams and reams of research about how the planet is changing...

Cognative dissonance sez; "it's just a warm decade, I'm sure Minnesota wanted a warmer winter anyway"

Thus; when we are told "human actions are to blame for the increase of global climate change" and we have evidence from the Antarctic ice record, the melting glaciers and right down to our planting seasons... instead of thinking "perhaps we should change our dependance on fossil fuels" or "perhaps I should stop supporting the cattle industry" because they are creating an unhealthy food supply and that food supply creates a huge amount of methane and deforestation...

Instead of having these thoughts we listen to other opinions...

... climate change is part of the natural cycle...
... volcanoes create more greenhouse gasses than humans...

... it's all a crock...
... God made the Earth for us to use up and that's what we're doing until the Apocalypse...

Cognitive dissonance sez; "Antarctica's so far away it doesn't matter"

All this denial in an attempt to alleviate the stress that acknowledging that we contribute to the problem is stopping us from finding solutions.

I believe that humans have the potential to move past our chemistry.

I believe that if we can solve these problems that we should...

I believe that no matter what you think the Cause of the change in the climate is that everyone should care about its truth and the health of the planet.

Coming up this December is the Climate Change conference in Copenhagen. World leaders will be convening to discuss how each nation will contribute to the solution. Click HERE to see their informative website, and click HERE to encourage your leaders to participate... this is important, it affects everyone believers and non-believers alike. Don't let your brain's defense mechanisms stop you from giving it a try.

I about fell down...

Liberty, Prosperity, Opportunity, Hope... all embodied in a Chia head? As I recall from my Chias, they kinda grow for a bit before getting all slimy and dead. Let's hope the Presidency goes better than ChiaObama. Ooh.
(Please no bashing the Pres. comments)

Yom Kippur

Lately I've found myself at odds with a prevalent attitude of superiority I see so much of. There are the "greener than thou"s, also the "more politically correct", "more informed", and "better educated" sorts who are like nails on a chalkboard. So many times I find myself just thinking "stop talking about how great you are and just be!" All of the bumper stickers, protests, posters and political and religious soap boxes just make me want to scream sometimes.
There is a parable of Jesus that has been perpetually knocking about in my head about all of it.

Luke 18:9-14
9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Tonight through tomorrow evening is the Jewish day of atonement. It is a day of solemn fasting and repentance. In this modern world where many people lack the religions of the past it seems that reflection and repentance can easily be discounted. A day to look into only personal faults and sins (religious, moral, ethical or what you will) rather than on that of others could be a day well spent.

I would welcome a more mainstream Yom Kippur here in the States. It might take a little of the hedonism out of the whole Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas season of gluttony.

As the Yom Kippur greeting goes; "May you be sealed for a good year in the Book of Life"

It's Complicated

You know what bugs me? It's Complicated... no really, what I mean is on Facebook the Relationship status of "it's complicated". Perhaps it's because I'm not a big drama queen about dating. In my eyes there are the following options; single, married, engaged, in a relationship or it's none of your damn business. If it is complicated why put anything down at all? Is it so that we know that your love life is a hot mess? Is it to say that you have a love life but are unwilling to commit to being with someone or not with someone. Perhaps That is why it's Complicated. Perhaps your inability to say "Yes, This is my boy/girlfriend! and I'm crazy about him/her" is why your love life *probably* causes you conflict. Is it just a way to feel like you're letting everybody know that you're not socially dead? It's lame. What's also lame is when one partner puts down "In a relationship" and the other puts "It's complicated". Seriously? This is drama creation.

In fact while we're at it I don't think that single or dating people should put their status down either. If you're single and you're fishing for a date... ok maybe then. If you're in a relationship and it's pretty stable... maybe then... but still it means that when you change your status all of your friends will see the message "Jane Smith is no longer listed as in a Relationship" "Jane Smith is now Single" aww Poor Jane Smith, now all of your 276 friends know that you've been dumped.

Still if you feel the need to share that information, I can be ok with it. At least you are "Single" or "Taken". Be one or the other or nothing at all... It's Complicated is just too sad. If you're getting divorced, if you're in some complicated polyamory, if you're having an imaginary affair with Johnny Depp, just leave the space blank. Your close friends, the ones you talk to Offline, are the ones you can tell this tale to. Why the need to share with your co-workers and friends from the past?

from the pit...

... ok it's just a neat light effect. I wanted to bump the spiders down. They're beginning to give me the wiggins.

Arachnid!

Well, I think they're from the araneidae family (orb weaving spiders), but I can't nail down the genus or species. Basically there are a whole lot of these Huge brown spiders near downtown Berkeley...




cool huh?

Wrong Turns

Sometimes I get so lost...

I think I know where I'm going and then slowly it sinks in that, in fact, I have no idea of how to get there...

I can see vaguely where I want to go... but then there's this ocean in the way...

I've found it best to take a moment and breathe. Laugh at how lost I am and enjoy where I've landed.

Perfect Wife

As per Sarah's request;

Perfect Wife

This feminine marvel, it can be stated;
Is one who, after having waited
A dragging, smoldering interim
(While supper cooled... and cooled) for him
To show his face from work, hears out
His explanation minus doubt
in what he hopefully has to say --
Then forgives and feeds him anyway.

--S.HY Dewhurst in Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping

I found the best book today. It is "The Good Housekeeping, Housekeeping Book" Published in 1947!
("I love to iron, it's what I dream about")

It looks like after the War, when Rosie the Riveter was shoved back into the domestic life, there was a need to convince women that Housekeeping was so complicated and important that their work required a full 491 page book to help them. This book is simultaneously insulting and interesting. There is a lot of good advice about stain removal, ironing, starching, washing with non-automatic or automatic washers... Things that are actually useful to have in a manual. What's great about it is that this was published before the mass commercialization of the soap industry so a lot of the products suggested are; Borax, baking soda, soap flakes, vinegar... all simple and inexpensive items.

At the same time, every chapter begins with a poem about cleaning, keeping your man happy, being a good wife... the worst is the one about learning how to use tools and perform basic household repairs;

The Chapter is Titled "You can fix it yourself, sometimes"

Enigma
How women today--
Wives, sisters, and nieces --
Can Knit or crochet
Such intracate piece,
Yet be so dumb
With a hammer or pliers,
Leaves me numb
With Amazement, sires!

Well-- ouch! Weren't these women just busy running factories not more than two years ago? How did we ever win that war at all with all of these helpless women running the country?

One of my favorite photos is this one of a housewife fumigating her dress;

The chapter it's attached to continues with the whole useful-yet-disturbing theme. It throughly describes all varieties of household pests that you could deal with. The book even describes how to recognize different varieties of ants and moths. And then... 13 of the 27 pages in "Household Pests" chapter describe all of the various ways to use DDT to kill them all.

I think I may need to share more as I go through this old gem... there's a poem about the "Perfect Wife", There is a large portion of the stain busting chapter dedicated to "vanilla, fruit or chocolate" ice cream... it's all fascinating stuff.